Yeah...the fact that it is a public health issue means that everyone needs to put everyone's responsibility for everyone's personal hygiene on everyone. I'm well aware of how sick people can get from spreading germs. I have a weak immune system too. I get sick from germs too. In a situation where I need to wash my hands and I don't have fragrance-free soap with me, I'm having to choose between whether I'm going to risk getting sick from germs (which may or may not happen) or use soap that I know for sure is going to make me sick. I don't just dislike the smell -- I have a serious allergic reaction which can include nausea, migraines, hyperventilation, my eyes turning all red and gross and swelling up, all kinds of gross things. So yeah, you can choose to think that I'm selfish because when I find myself in that situation, I'd rather risk germs than deal with the reaction I will have to scented soap -- or, you can choose to advocate for public health by providing fragrance free soap and encouraging others to do so.

_________________Man, fork the gender card, imma come at you with the whole damned gender deck. - Olives Did you ever think that, like, YOU are a sexy costume FOR a diva cup? - solipsistnationblog!FB!

Yeah...the fact that it is a public health issue means that everyone needs to put everyone's responsibility for everyone's personal hygiene on everyone. I'm well aware of how sick people can get from spreading germs. I have a weak immune system too. I get sick from germs too. In a situation where I need to wash my hands and I don't have fragrance-free soap with me, I'm having to choose between whether I'm going to risk getting sick from germs (which may or may not happen) or use soap that I know for sure is going to make me sick. I don't just dislike the smell -- I have a serious allergic reaction which can include nausea, migraines, hyperventilation, my eyes turning all red and gross and swelling up, all kinds of gross things. So yeah, you can choose to think that I'm selfish because when I find myself in that situation, I'd rather risk germs than deal with the reaction I will have to scented soap -- or, you can choose to advocate for public health by providing fragrance free soap and encouraging others to do so.

You're definitely not selfish--I understand allergies to scents (perfume literally nauseates me)--and I'll admit, I wouldn't have thought to keep fragrance-free soap in my apartment (which is something I can and will easily do from now on, so thanks). But it's much easier to get your friends or people you know to keep hypo-allergenic soap in their apartments than it is to get businesses, etc. to do so. So, it would make sense to carry around soap you can use just in terms of navigating reality, not because failure to do so means you're selfish.

_________________"So often I wish Adam were a real boy." - interrobang?!"If he was you'd hear him farting at the back of your yoga class." - 8ball

I only use fragrance-free soaps. I never use anything with fragrance because I'm pretty sensitive to it. I'm a little weird, too, and bring around my own soap if I know I'll be out long enough that I may have to use the restroom. I can't STAND the gross pink colored liquid soap you normally find in public bathrooms. The scent makes my lungs get super tight and my hands get super itchy if I use it... and it takes so long for the scent to go away, even if I wash them again with some unscented soap. It made me so mad, that for a while, before I decided to stash soap in my bag, I would just with hot water and no soap when I had to use public restrooms.

Seriously, you're putting the responsibility for your personal hygiene on other people?! If you can't use scented soap carry some scent free soap with you.

It's not just a matter of being fussy, it is a public health issue. I wish some of you could see how ill some of us can get when infected with bacterial or viral infections.

please explain how the first statement isn't completely contradictory to the second.

If you have sensitivity to certain soaps, you can bring your own (my dad does this).

If you have a weakened immune system you can...never leave your house or interact with other people?

That's not what I'm saying at all, but if everyone took responsibility for their personal hygiene there would be less infections spread and less risk to people who can end up seriously ill or worse. People with health problems shouldn't have to be confined to their own house because other's won't wash their hands <general>.

Choirqueer, I have carry certain things with me every time I leave the house because of chemical sensitivities (I have chemical sensitivities), I see it as my personal responsibility.

ETA: Sorry, I'm not explaining myself too well atm, it might have made is clearer in the previous post if I had said that "not" washing your hands makes it a public health issue.

Yeah...the fact that it is a public health issue means that everyone needs to put everyone's responsibility for everyone's personal hygiene on everyone. I'm well aware of how sick people can get from spreading germs. I have a weak immune system too. I get sick from germs too. In a situation where I need to wash my hands and I don't have fragrance-free soap with me, I'm having to choose between whether I'm going to risk getting sick from germs (which may or may not happen) or use soap that I know for sure is going to make me sick. I don't just dislike the smell -- I have a serious allergic reaction which can include nausea, migraines, hyperventilation, my eyes turning all red and gross and swelling up, all kinds of gross things. So yeah, you can choose to think that I'm selfish because when I find myself in that situation, I'd rather risk germs than deal with the reaction I will have to scented soap -- or, you can choose to advocate for public health by providing fragrance free soap and encouraging others to do so.

In my experience, most places with public restrooms have contracts with suppliers for their soap, tp and so forth. The soap is whatever is included in the contract. Your best bet is to try to bring your own when you are out.

_________________A whole lot of access and privilege goes into being sanctimonious pricks J-DubDessert is currently a big bowl of sanctimonious, passive aggressive vegan enduced boak. FezzaYou people are way less funny than Pandacookie. Sucks to be you.-interrobang?!

I don't mean to sound like a heartless dick, but I still wouldn't use my own soap even if I remembered to carry it around. It helps if it's free of dye and perfumes, but it still dries out my hands like crazy. I realize that hand sanitizer doesn't kill everything, and it still dries my hands out a little but it's not as bad as washing the lotion off. I can't wash dishes on the same day that I take a shower. When I shower, I immediately have to run to my room and put lotion on, before I even get dressed. And then after I get dressed. And then after combing my hair. And then after drying it. I can't even touch a piece of paper without getting grossed out. I can't handle warm laundry. When it's summer and my eczema is at its worst, I can't even do my own dishes, trying to wash my hair with raw hands makes me cry, and I often have to bandage my left hand because it's so bad. If I got poop or pee on my hands I would wash them anyway and deal with it, and I wash my hands before I handle food and after cleaning the litter box, but in my own house I have 3-4 bottles of lotion in various places all over the house so I can do things like lotion my hands every five minutes.

And yes, people have alluded before that my lotion use borders on OCD, but those people don't have dry skin and eczema so they can suck it.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I don't mean to sound like a heartless dick, but I still wouldn't use my own soap even if I remembered to carry it around. It helps if it's free of dye and perfumes, but it still dries out my hands like crazy. I realize that hand sanitizer doesn't kill everything, and it still dries my hands out a little but it's not as bad as washing the lotion off. I can't wash dishes on the same day that I take a shower. When I shower, I immediately have to run to my room and put lotion on, before I even get dressed. And then after I get dressed. And then after combing my hair. And then after drying it. I can't even touch a piece of paper without getting grossed out. I can't handle warm laundry. When it's summer and my eczema is at its worst, I can't even do my own dishes, trying to wash my hair with raw hands makes me cry, and I often have to bandage my left hand because it's so bad. If I got poop or pee on my hands I would wash them anyway and deal with it, and I wash my hands before I handle food and after cleaning the litter box, but in my own house I have 3-4 bottles of lotion in various places all over the house so I can do things like lotion my hands every five minutes.

And yes, people have alluded before that my lotion use borders on OCD, but those people don't have dry skin and eczema so they can suck it.

when my friend was little he had eczema that bad so his dad had to slather him in "chilly willy bean sauce" and it made him smell so he had no friends! it flared up on his hands more recently and he soaked them in vinegar, which seemed to really help.

I don't mean to sound like a heartless dick, but I still wouldn't use my own soap even if I remembered to carry it around. It helps if it's free of dye and perfumes, but it still dries out my hands like crazy. I realize that hand sanitizer doesn't kill everything, and it still dries my hands out a little but it's not as bad as washing the lotion off. I can't wash dishes on the same day that I take a shower. When I shower, I immediately have to run to my room and put lotion on, before I even get dressed. And then after I get dressed. And then after combing my hair. And then after drying it. I can't even touch a piece of paper without getting grossed out. I can't handle warm laundry. When it's summer and my eczema is at its worst, I can't even do my own dishes, trying to wash my hair with raw hands makes me cry, and I often have to bandage my left hand because it's so bad. If I got poop or pee on my hands I would wash them anyway and deal with it, and I wash my hands before I handle food and after cleaning the litter box, but in my own house I have 3-4 bottles of lotion in various places all over the house so I can do things like lotion my hands every five minutes.

And yes, people have alluded before that my lotion use borders on OCD, but those people don't have dry skin and eczema so they can suck it.

when my friend was little he had eczema that bad so his dad had to slather him in "chilly willy bean sauce" and it made him smell so he had no friends! it flared up on his hands more recently and he soaked them in vinegar, which seemed to really help.

what in the world is chilly willy bean sauce? i have to know.

_________________Man, fork the gender card, imma come at you with the whole damned gender deck. - Olives Did you ever think that, like, YOU are a sexy costume FOR a diva cup? - solipsistnationblog!FB!